Galaxy
by LukeAndLorelai Brucas Fan
Summary: "We were never supposed to be together." "I know." "I can't do this," "I will always be here for you. Both of you." My very own next gen. It's crazy, but give it a try. R
1. The Only Star In The Sky

This started off as something so simple - a boy and a girl and the stars. I blame Jessica Mauboy and Stan Walker. Everyone heard "Galaxy"? Good, now you know what set me off. After hours of rearranging paragraphs, shifting commas and abusing a thesaurus I'm done. Enjoy.

Oh, this is slightly connected to "Nothing" and "To Wish Upon A Star" but you don't have to have read those for it to make sense. This may never make sense. But if you were to give them a read, and a review, that'd be so very much appreciated. That's it now, I'm done. Promise.

* * *

The door was left unlocked.

That was almost disappointing – it should have had enchantments on it that prevented "Alohamora" from working, but there was nothing. The cupboard door was the same, even left slightly ajar.

It was their rule. It was their _only_ rule. And yet, there were no precautions put in place that should have been.

_It's their own fault,_ she decided, tapping the doorknob and whispering "colloportus." She would tell them that too, if she were caught. If they had just answered her questions, she wouldn't have to resort to sneaking around. And if they were serious about the rule, they would have done something to make sure she couldn't do this.

But, she was there, and now she had another objective – go back, see what had really happened.

Inside the cupboard was a large stone basin. It was covered in runes, carvings that looked unfamiliar. The thing took up the entire shelf on which it sat, and above it were racks of vials, each of them containing something that swirled, either a gas or a liquid, she couldn't be sure.

"Don't back out now." She told herself, lifting the basin and moving it to the desk she had passed on her way in. Returning to the cupboard, she lifted a hand to choose a vial. They weren't labelled, and she wasn't sure if there was any order to them, but as she passed her hand along the rows, something made her grab at the third one.

"You can do this – you're the child of powerful couple, a Gryffindor and a Slytherin; who else can claim that? You'll be fine," she coached herself, as her hand began to move of its own accord and poured the contents into the basin.

It was only shallow and she had an awful thought as she leaned inward that she might hit the bottom before long, but as she continued to lean forward, Halley found herself looking into a room, most of it taken up by a big bed.

In the centre of the bed lay a woman. She was looking up, her lips moving, but Halley couldn't hear what was being said from where she was, so she leaned forward until her nose broke the surface of the strange substance.

Her father's office shook all around her, as if it had just been hit by an earthquake, and Halley felt herself falling forwards, pitching headfirst into the silvery substance.

It almost felt like she was passing through a black waterfall at the same time as an army of ghosts. It was so cold and dark as she tumbled through the space Halley didn't like it at all.

But then it was over and she landed on the big soft bed in time to hear the woman say in a sing-song voice, "I found you,"

"Was I hiding?" asked another voice as the door opened. There was a handsome young man holding two steaming cups. Cocoa, it smelled like.

They were breathtaking. They both had the same pale complexion, hers showing up her dark eyes and hair, his silver eyes, like moonlit mercury, shining through. Photos of the two of them could never dull. Even if they were too tired to move around or do anything much, they would still be lovely to look at.

"There." She pointed upward – straight through Halley's face as she'd been leaning over her, studying the differences. "I found you up there."

Halley looked up to where she pointed and gasped. The room opened to the sky! There was no ceiling.

"I see." He placed the two mugs on the bed side locker before joining her on the bed. She wriggled over to give him space and then as they were adjusting themselves, entwining ankles and joining hands, Halley made herself comfortable in an arm chair by the window, certain that her presence had not been detected.

"I wish everyone could see this," she sighed, still looking up.

"You never told me you fancied exhibitionism,"

"This!" she pointed again and he nodded. "The stars, I wish we could go and make it so that everyone could lay comfy in their beds and still see the stars."

"I don't." she turned to regard him curiously; Halley sat forward, wondering why he would say that. "They wouldn't understand," was all he gave as an explanation.

"Understand what?"

"How important they really are. Sure, they might know some of the names; they might be able to recite the… longey-tude, to say exactly where they're located. But they don't really know. They can't really see."

"The Muggles, you mean?"

"People like us too. Even the ones that can perform the same spell; clear away the clouds and the smog and whatever else, so that the ceiling reflects nothing but the sky, even they don't know."

As the almost raven-haired woman enquired as to what he really meant Halley looked up again. Of course. The room didn't open to the sky that would be ridiculous. The ceiling merely reflected the sky, just like the one in the Great Hall at Hogwarts, and – this made her feel particularly stupid – in her parents room at the Manor.

But this was not that room, so she let herself off there.

"We were never supposed to be together you know."

"I know." It sounded as if she could barely speak those two words. Just five letters, but they were a struggle.

"My parents did all they could to poison me against you, long before I even knew who you were. Small things at first. Reminders that family loyalty was the most important thing of all; following tradition was a necessity. Then they began to mention you by name, tell me that your father was a traitor, a deserter and you were the product of his betrayal.

"Before we met it was easy to go along with. They were my parents, they wouldn't tell me lies; they had all the answers. How could they be wrong? But afterwards, when you tried to befriend me, I didn't know what to do. What was I to think?"

On the bed and in the chair, they bit their lower lips. The woman, who was being spoken to, continued to watch the sky, while the young girl stared at the handsome blonde man.

"It upsets me sometimes," he continued. "To think of others looking up there, pointing out specific stars, renaming them for whomever they love at that moment. Those are the ones that have no idea at all. The stars have been there for millions of years. Longer. They have no business christening them for a girl just so they can get a leg over."

Having no idea where he was going with this topic of conversation, Halley settled herself in the chair more comfortably while the girl pressed herself in against her lover's side and curled a hand on his chest.

"I was fifteen when I first realised I loved you." He announced.

Halley saw the other girl's mouth fall open and tears spring to her eyes, but she was fighting them, not letting them fall. Clearly she'd had no idea. Why they hadn't talked about it before, Halley couldn't have even guessed, but in any case, they were discussing it now.

"I used to spend nights in my dorm, staring at the hangings around my bed, thinking of you. I listened to the sound of your laugh, watched your eyes sparkle the way they would when you were happiest, with your friends, and I wished it was me. I wished that I could be the one to make that happen, to cause you such happiness. But there were no stars to be seen where I slept, so there was nothing to wish upon."

"You never said-"

"I couldn't, could I? Not after the way I had behaved since we first met. I knew by then that I had been wrong and I felt horrible. But I honestly thought that loving you and having you hate me for the rest of our lives would be my punishment for not standing up to my parents. For not being my own person,

"After Hogwarts I decided that I would forget all about you. It was something I had to do, and I always managed to do what was necessary before. But when it came to this, I couldn't. Even if you were never mentioned to me again, how could I possibly forget you when there was a reminder in the sky every evening?"

"That's why you showed up…"

He nodded his chin above her head. "By that point I'd decided that I couldn't wait anymore I had to see you. I was desperate to see you. Even if you sent me away without talking to me, I needed to know."

"Why you showed up?" Halley repeated, knowing she couldn't be heard. "Showed up where? When? Come on! You've got to give me more than that! How am I supposed to know where to go next?"

"How many stars do you think there are up there," asked the woman with tears still glistening in her eyes as she pointed to the ceiling again.

"Billions, trillions… I have no idea. More than anyone knows, probably. Why?"

"And when I lie here, how many do you think I see?" Halley had to look up again then. She tried to count the ones that were visible in their patch. But there were far too many.

"There's got to be thousands." He replied after a while, Halley having come to the same conclusion.

"Probably, yes. But that's not what I asked. How many do you think I see?"

"Well…" he was silent again, considering, then he smiled, "The same number that I see."

"And that is?"

"One, just yours,"

Halley wanted to want to gag at that. It seemed to be the appropriate response for a fifteen year old girl, listening to an overly romantic couple. But she didn't really feel any desire to. And anyway, there was no one who would know that she enjoyed hearing such a thing being said.

"Every night I look up and I find you and I know that everything will be alright." She added.

"They were right." He said. "My parents, I see it now. Whatever else they've done or said they got one thing right. Family loyalty is the most important thing. And if you'll have me, I'll be loyal to ours for the rest of my life, until my very last breathe."

Halley sat forward in her seat as the woman before her sat up and looked down.

Was that a marriage proposal? He hadn't actually mentioned marriage, but otherwise, it seemed-

"Of course."

They kissed then and Halley felt herself being lifted, rising back towards the ceiling and back to the office in the present.

"Probably a good thing," she decided. Things looked as if they were about to get a lot more intimate.

Fuelled by her success, Halley siphoned the memory out of the Pensieve and replaced it in its bottle before returning it to the shelf and searching for another.

"What did she mean that was why he showed up?" she asked the odd little objects on the desk. "When did he show up?"

Studying the bottles again, Halley let her hand move on its own to pick the next memory. And then she took that one to the Pensieve as well.

Falling back through time again, Halley found herself standing outside. All around her, couples were dancing, people were talking and laughing.

Then she heard a voice she knew very well.

"What does he think he's doing here?" Turning to the source she found Ronald Weasley, one of her "Uncle" Harry's best friends, as well as Hermione Granger.

"She wouldn't have invited him, surely?" Hermione looked concerned. Harry was silent, just watching. By that point, Halley couldn't take it anymore. She had to turn away from the three friends and discover what they were looking at.

A young Draco Malfoy strode across the grass and stopped in front of the young woman who was finishing thanking a guest.

Following his path, she stopped by his side as he swept into a low bow and asked, "May I have this dance?" He wore black velvet robes with a high collar, his pale skin and hair standing out even more so because of it.

Halley waited to see what would happen, but the young woman who had been asked, simply stood, looking him over. It seemed as if every party guest was watching them. Harry, Hermione and Ron would most definitely be discussing this new development.

"Can I see your invitation?" she finally asked in return. Halley had a feeling that everyone knew he wouldn't be able to produce one.

"I don't have one. I'm sorry to show up uninvited, but I wanted to wish you a happy birthday."

"Why, after all this time?"

"I thought it had been long enough. I'm of age. Overage. Continuing to let my father dictate who I can and can't speak to, to control me, that's… well it's not how I want to live my life."

"Go on!" Halley pleaded. "Say yes!"

The witch in the silver robes continued to study him as his hand remained outstretched towards her, and then as it began to waver, she took a deep breath, a step forward and grasped it in her own.

Once again Halley felt that this was one of those moments when she should leave the couple alone, give them their privacy, even if they had no idea she was watching. But she couldn't drag herself away, couldn't even face the thought of observing the other guests. Instead she stood and watched the birthday girl dance with the unwelcome boy.

He was holding her so gently, almost as if she were an injured baby bird and he was taking great pains not to crush her.

As they moved in slow rhythmic circles, Halley wanted to yell at everyone to stop whispering about them, to tell them they were ruining the moment. But she could have screamed until she was hoarse and it wouldn't have done any good.

Not that the two of them had any idea of what was going on outside the orbit of their dance.

Suddenly the whispering became frenzied, voices were being raised. Something was going on to draw the attention of everyone present away from the only two who were still dancing and then, even they stopped and looked up like the rest.

A comet burned across the sky right over the top of their heads.

"Wow," Halley had never seen one so clear without a telescope before. It was wonderful.

"It's beautiful," Halley heard the twenty-one year old witch say, and she tore her eyes away from the sky. The birthday girl was holding onto Draco's arm, watching the comet's path, but the young man who she had moments earlier been dancing with had eyes only for her.

"Isn't it?" he replied.

She wouldn't have heard though, Halley decided. She was busy staring upward. But her expression was different to how it had been only seconds before. She looked as if she had finally discovered the solution to a problem she'd been working at for years and years.

The party dissolved around her and once again Halley found herself standing in her father's office.

The memory of the birthday party left her with a light happy feeling in her stomach and Halley was almost ready to abandon her plan. She saw them young and happy, why should she continue?

But she needed to. There was still so much more to discover.


	2. Like A Comet To My Heart

The third time around she was used to the icy feeling, the blackness that surrounded her. And then she found herself in a familiar room with a clear blue ceiling.

This was her parent's bedroom, just upstairs of where she had begun her expedition. This one she knew. The only difference was that some of the fabrics were different, newer, though she'd never seen them.

Scanning everything to catalogue the differences, Halley found the couple once again lying in the middle of a large bed. This time, however, her mother was sporting a rather large belly.

"We could go the way of two traditions," Draco mused, running his knuckles over the swell. "Maybe that'll be an Orion or Regulus. We could honour your father, even,"

"I don't think any of the ones who've come before us would appreciate our 'defiling' their names that way. Unless we went with those who were blasted off the tree – considering I don't even appear that could work."

"So that would be… Isla, Alphard, the second Phineus,"

"But what would Phineus Nigellus think?" she affected a tone of outrage. Chuckling, he continued.

"Marius isn't too bad. Or Cedrella?"

"And Dad, of course. Although, I'd have to say, as much as I hate to admit it, my favourite name was taken by a woman who, if she were ever released from prison, ought to be thrown into an asylum."

"Ah, Aunt Bellatrix. Yes, she was very fortunate wasn't she?"

"What if we tried a variation of either of ours?"

"You mean forgo the actual celestial name and have a Dragon? Or little Eagle? Sounds a little too Native American to me. Oh, but what about this? Rather than picking a specific star, if it were a girl, we could just name her Starr! Two r's,"

Halley, sitting in the corner, cringed. If her parents had done that, she would have moved in with Uncle Harry and demanded he change her name.

"That's very tacky. What about Soleil? It's French for sun. Or maybe the Spanish for moon,"

"Name a kid after Looney Lovegood? I don't think so."

"Don't call her that! She's lovely."

"She's mad! So's her father." Halley couldn't help but laugh at this exchange. They were both right of course. Luna was quite odd, but she was very nice as well. And Soleil wasn't all that bad…

"Moving on." Aquila decided. "What's your next suggestion?"

"Crucis?"

"NO!" Halley roared, but thankfully her mother vetoed that for her.

"Too similar to 'crucio,'"

"How about," he paused for a moment, building suspense as he rubbed his chin, "Scorpius Hyperion?"

"Scorpius? Hmm, that could work."

"It's not bad, is it?"

"Did you just think of it?"

"No, I came up with it a while ago, but I forgot. We should probably think up a few more options though, in case whatever comes out of there doesn't look like a Scorpius, or, you know, if it's a girl."

"Do you remember my twenty-first birthday?" Aquila asked, throwing off both her husband and daughter.

"Of course. What about it?"

"Have we explored comets?" Halley grinned, realising where she was heading, even if her father was still confused.

"Aren't they all named something like C1674? Do you really want to subject a child to that?"

"I'm sure some of them are named for the Muggles who discovered them."

"That's right, I remember some now. Let's see, there was… Borrelly, Donati, Shoemaker/Levy's good. Or how about this, 'we'd like you to meet out daughter Miss Mitchell Malfoy,' has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"

"Oh!" Aquila grabbed a cushion and whacked him with it, Halley, in the corner was giggling to herself. "Fine then, you can have this simple task all to yourself if you're going to be that way."

"Actually, you might be on to something there," Draco replied, sitting up, holding the cushion beside himself, preventing her from attacking him with it again.

"Don't patronise me,"

"No, really. Comets. Maybe… Yes! What about Halley? Halley's comet, it orbits about every seventy years I think."

"Halley Malfoy. I like that."

"Excellent! Is that it then? We've got one of each, and as long as you're sure you're only hiding one in there, that should be all we need, right?"

"For now." Aquila replied, smirking, "I think we're done, yes. Now you can go and make us some breakfast."

"Good, I'm starved!" Draco announced, stretching as he stood beside the bed.

"No, no," Aquila replied, standing as well. "Not you and I 'us', the baby and me. We need to eat far more urgently than you do. So go on, get cooking."

Halley, still sitting in the arm chair in the corner, giggled to herself as her parents bickering voices faded down the hall, and the room dissolved around her.

As soon as she was through the portal that was the Pensieve for the fourth time, Halley knew exactly where she had ended up.

Platform Nine and Three Quarters in her parents' day looked just as it did when she'd first seen it, and every time afterwards. There were people rushing around in all directions, calling out to friends and trying to get away from their parents.

It didn't take long at all to locate either of her parents, but it was bizarre to be seeing them now. They were younger than she was, she was certain of it. Which meant…

"This is the first time they ever met,"

Her father looked just as sure of himself as ever, even at the age of eleven, as he strode away from his mother after allowing her to peck him on the cheek. He made his way towards the big red steam engine that carried the students to Hogsmeade station without so much as glancing back.

Finding her mother wasn't hard either. She stood with a cluster of people, among them her grandfather, Sirius, and her uncle Harry Potter.

Sirius didn't look at all pleased to be there, which Halley put down to the fact that he had met his wife at Hogwarts and she had been murdered shortly after the birth of their daughter. But he couldn't very well deny his daughter from going, no matter how it worried him to let her.

Edging closer to the group she noticed that Harry's parents were the ones doing all of the usual parental things, reminding both children of things they needed to know and checking they had everything, while her grandfather simply stood off to the side, looking sullen.

The whistle blew and Harry's mother looked up anxiously. "It's time then," Lily announced, placing an arm around her son's shoulders. "You'd better hurry on board."

Aquila grabbed Harry's hand, but didn't drag him off right away. She allowed him one last moment to look at his parents, who were both smiling encouragingly. She however, kept her eyes averted from her own father.

"Good luck son," James Potter said, clapping him on the shoulder. "Owl us as soon as you can,"

"I will." Harry replied, and then they were off.

Halley followed quickly, jumping on board the train just as it began to move out of the station. She followed her mother and the boy she'd always thought of as her uncle, through the compartments, until they came to a near empty one.

Three boys sat around, taking up most of the space, but if they were to sit properly, there would be room enough for at least another four.

"Do you mind if we sit here?" Aquila asked as Harry hung back behind her.

"Depends," drawled a blonde boy. "What's your blood status?"

"I highly doubt that's of anyone's concern."

"It concerns me. So come on, let's hear it."

"Well if you must know, I'm a pure-blood. My father is a member of the ancient and so-called 'noble' house of Black."

"Ah, well, if you're referring to them that way that would make him Sirius. The Muggle-loving filth,"

"My father," Aquila replied, over the top of his comment, "is a wonderful man. An equal opportunist,"

"Yes, well, each to his own. And him?"

"He's-"

"I don't want to sit here with you." Harry cut in. "I'd rather find somewhere else. Come on, Ak, let's go." He turned and left, Aquila looked after him for a moment before following, leaving the compartment door open.

As they walked along the hallway, Halley, torn between following or staying to observe her father further, she distinctively heard him mutter, "It's a good thing that certain limbs of the tree can be trimmed. Hopefully her father's line can end with her and then any other bad seeds should just die out so-

Halley found herself in her father's office again, horrified. She was pretty certain by that point that all the memories she had witnessed were his, she just hoped that her mother hadn't heard him say that last part.

"I wonder how long it took him to reveal the relation?" she questioned aloud. He wouldn't have done it that day even though his old lackeys Crabbe and Goyle probably wouldn't have batted a heavy eyelid, but that boy on the train would have preferred to keep it hidden for as long as possible that he was related to a Gryffindor, she was sure.

The next bottle she chose because of its shape. It wasn't like the rest of them, and she wondered why she hadn't noticed it earlier. But as she carried it to the Pensieve, she knew that it would be something important.

Why else use a unique bottle?

After the now familiar icy blackness, Halley found herself surrounded by fog. Far off voices reached her ears, but she couldn't understand a word of what they were saying. Then she was standing at the bottom of the staircase in the entrance to her family's home.

Her parents stood a few feet away, staring at each other in a way that she was sure the couples in the earlier memories wouldn't have dreamt of. Then after what felt like a hundred years her mother finally spoke.

"You swore." She told him. "You swore to me that you would always be loyal to us, to our family. But that's not what you're doing now, is it?"

"You still don't seem to understand. That's exactly what I'm doing. How can you not see that?"

"I can't do this. I can't!" she turned on her heel and stormed out the front door.

As Halley watched her father stomp towards his study, she heard a tiny sound from behind her and turned to see herself, sitting at the top of the stairs, she was nearly thirteen years old and she was crying.

Suddenly the entire scene disappeared, but rather than return to her own time, Halley was once again engulfed in fog and then watched it clear, before the voices of her father and uncle cut through.

"We may never have gotten on, Draco, but I'd like to think that over the last few years, we've been able to put our differences aside for the most part. And for Aquila's sake I-"

"Since you're in my house Potter," her father interrupted, "I'll thank you not to talk to me like I'm one of your children."

"I know she wants to come home." Harry continued. "She misses you, and Hal's crying every night, asking why she can't see you. But she won't. Not while you-"

"I've heard enough." Draco interrupted again. "You can go now."

"If you do this, if you just give up now, that'll be it. There will be no more chances; no way that she will ever come back to you. And you can bet your entire vault at Gringotts that she'll keep Halley away as well."

Halley was relieved to know that hadn't happened. Whatever else had gone on between her parents, her mother had reneged on that one threat at least.

"Winkle can show you out. Unless you're able to make it across the room on your own?" Draco sneered, and for the first time Halley noticed the House-Elf she had grown up with hovering in a doorway that lead to the kitchen.

Looking angrier than she had ever seen him in her entire life, Harry sent one more glare towards Draco and then walked out the front door. Halley watched her father walk into his office and slam the door before she felt a hand land on her shoulder.

* * *

She had to get busted right? You can't go into someone else's thoughts in the Pensieve and not get busted, right? So what did we think? Wanna leave me a review?


	3. There's Nothing I Won't Do

I totally forgot to update this. It completely slipped my mind. But that's ok, because there's no one reading this right?

* * *

She fell into her father's office a moment later and stared up at him from where she'd landed on the floor.

"What in Merlin's name do you think you're doing?" he demanded as she scrambled to her feet.

"I… I just wanted to know why."

"Why what?" his eyes were so dark and menacing. This was not her father; this was a man she had never met before.

"Why you and mum aren't together any more. Why we don't live here? I remember we used to be happy. I was at least, and I'm sure you were. These memories prove it too! So what happened? That last one… you were fighting I think, but everything was obscured somehow, like the memory was damaged. Why was that?"

"You know the Pensieve isn't a toy, Halley. Your mother and I didn't restrict you from doing too much, but we were firm on that, you're not to play around with it. What made you think-"

"Because I knew you wouldn't tell me if I asked you straight out. But I've seen it now. Lots of it. So you have to tell me! I've stayed quiet for the most part, but it's been two years Dad! Two years of 'not now Halley,' 'when you're older darling,' and 'you wouldn't understand.' You're right about one thing, I don't understand! You said so yourself, you've been in love with her since you were my age. I heard it. That doesn't just go away, so what the hell happened?"

"I don't have to answer these questions. If you want to hound someone you can go back and pester your mother."

"But I've got another three weeks here!"

"Well I'm sorry, but if you insist on acting like this then you'll just have to go early. If you were to act like the mature fifteen year old I know you to be then we might be able to negotiate a longer stay, but as it is, you're going to have to go."

Borrowing the look she had just seen Harry aim at her father, Halley turned on her heel and stormed out of the room, stomping her way up the stairs and slamming her bedroom door.

When she ventured out hours later, starving and unable to deny it any longer, she opened her bedroom door to find the stone bowl sitting in the hallway along with another two of the odd little vials.

She would have ignored them out of spite had she not seen the note, but when she found her father's words next to the old basin, she snatched them up, her stomach forgotten as her other hunger was reignited.

_I'm sorry I snapped at you. Of course you can stay as long as you like. If you're insisting on all of this memory business, you should probably see these as well. Come find me when you're done, _

_Love Dad_

Halley snatched up her wand and levitated the Pensieve onto her bed, carrying the note and the vials. Once everything was safe in her room, she closed the door and sat studying the swirling mists, trying to decide which she should choose first.

Making a snap decision, she uncorked one vial, and poured, leaning in towards it before she could change her mind.

Once again she stood in her father's office and her parents were glaring at one another from either side of the desk.

"I guess I just don't understand the problem," Aquila said.

"You do. I know you do. You were never stupid; it has to be in there somewhere."

"Say I am; pretend that I am a complete moron Draco. Tell me what's wrong."

"I am an only child, as are you," he replied slowly.

"Yes, I'm aware of that, but thank you so much for telling me in such a condescending tone."

"Bellatrix and Rodolphus never had any children. Regulus died before he could father an heir, and Andromeda had a daughter. Are you following me so far?" Aquila refused to answer, she simply glared. "All of this means, that the Black line basically ends with us."

"That's not true. Halley could-"

"Halley's not a male heir. She'll get married someday, change her name. Just like Nymphadora Tonks did."

"Dora had a son!"

"Who's name is Lupin. It doesn't matter. She could have ten children, all boys; it wouldn't mean a thing unless one of them was by a man from the original line."

"So what you're saying is that we have to have a son. You want to risk-"

"Of course I don't want to. That was the worst night of my life; imagining you dying and then some idiot Healer comes and tells me they did all they could. I never want to experience that terror again."

"Well then I really don't understand. What are you trying to tell me?"

"We need to have a son." He replied as if it were the simplest thing in the world. But evidently Aquila was just as confused as Halley.

"But you just said-"

"There are ways it can be done. I've read about procedures that Muggles use when they're having trouble conceiving. It's not very well known among the magical community, but it could be done."

"There's no way."

"Aquila, you need to listen to me. You have to understand-"

"I understand perfectly. My father's line, your mother's, it's over. I understand that. The ancient and most noble house of Black," here, Halley distinctly heard sarcasm in her tone. Clearly the title didn't mean any more to her than it had when she was eleven, "will be no more than a memory when we're gone. Well so what? No, really," she continued over his attempts to interrupt. "Tell me, who will really care? Half of them were Death Eaters or secret supporters., the rest were a bunch of bigoted imbeciles.

"The only good that ever came out of that family aside from you, was blasted off the bloody tapestry and ignored. But you've forgotten Harry. He's one of us too, and Ron. The entire Weasley clan, in fact; we all came from the same place Draco. We're all family. And they may not have the name Black, but the blood line will continue through James and Albus, Hugo and Louis too. So there's no need to worry. And there's no need to try and govern something that you have no business controlling."

She left the room then without a sound and Halley was left staring at her father as he fell into the chair behind his desk. He looked defeated. Like he'd just fought in an epic battle and watched every one of his comrades struck down before he himself joined them.

As she continued to watch, he lifted his wand from the desk and held the tip to his temple. A wisp of something silvery-white trailed along as he walked to the very cupboard she'd stood in front of earlier and placed it into a spare bottle. It was an oddly shaped one she realised. Just like the one that contained her mother leaving.

The room faded around her once more and she found herself back on her bed.

"I'm sorry!" she cried out, bursting into his office, moments later, having practically flown down the stairs. "I never should have started this. I'm sorry. I promise I'll leave it alone now. I won't ask any more questions."

"Did you see them both?" he asked, looking up from The Daily Prophet. He looked exhausted; she'd never seen him like this before.

"No. Just the fight about having another baby. I'm sorry. I never knew that it had been dangerous to have me. I'm so, so-"

"Halley, please go back upstairs and watch the other."

"But I-"

"I want you to see it. Please. And stop apologising."

Back in her room, Halley held the last vial, staring into the Pensieve uneasily. She didn't want to look. She didn't want to know any more, it had been a stupid idea to pry in the first place.

"I wish I'd never started this."

"But you did," Halley looked up. Her father had followed her to her room; he was standing watch to make sure she followed through. "Go ahead. Take a look," he urged. "I'll be right there with you."

Together they bent over the bowl and Halley felt her legs lift off the bed.

When she stood right again she was in another familiar place. Hogwarts, the entrance hall. And crossing to the front doors, covered head to toe in red and gold, was her mother, accompanied by three of her dearest friends, Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"Isn't she beautiful?" her father asked from beside her. There was a younger version of him on her other side. Both of them were watching intently, oblivious to anything else.

"Disgusting," muttered the young Draco. "Such a waste of someone so pure,"

"I hadn't realised it yet. That would happen late at night, when I was seething over something she'd said to me. Just about a week from this actually. But as I stood here, I loved her."

"You sure don't look like it."

"Well no, I couldn't. And I wouldn't. Each time I was caught watching her, I would always cover myself; say something like what he just did. No one could know. That would have been the end of me. Come on, we need to go,"

He took her arm and once again, the scene dissolved, leaving behind her bedroom.

Landing on her bed, Halley was suddenly exhausted. She had travelled through thirty-odd years in just a few hours, seen so many things, it was any wonder she wasn't falling apart.

"We probably should have told you why it was that we were separating. I'm sorry that we didn't. And for so many other things. But you need to know that I still love your mother, and what I said to her the night that I proposed, did you see-" Halley nodded and he continued. "What I said that night, I meant. I will always be loyal to this family. I will always be here for you, the both of you."

"Will you ever get back together?"

"I don't think we can mend what I broke when I stupidly suggested…" he shook his head, frowning. "She probably doesn't realise it right now, but she will. I'm not going anywhere, and if there is ever a day that your mother wants to try again, nothing will stand in my way of fixing us.

"You can't let on that you know all of this, alright Hal? If you do, she'll just use that as another thing that I've done wrong. I'm sorry to put that on you, but, you can handle it, can't you?"

"Promise."

"Good girl. Now I've got some paperwork to go through, did you want to see if one of your friends can come over?"

"That's ok. I'll just wait until you're done. Maybe we could have a game of chess?"

"If you're sure,"

"I'm too tired to be any fun right now anyway."

"Ok, well, I shouldn't be too long."

"I'll be here," Halley replied. Draco nodded and collected everything associated with the Pensieve before walking out the door. Halley lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling.

She was exhausted. She would have loved to go to sleep and wake up refreshed to play chess with her father, but instead she found herself reliving the memories she had just witnessed, re-examining them and wondering if there was any chance that things between her parents could ever be like they were in the beginning.


	4. With You Is My Eternity

I don't like this chapter. The ending sucks. Eh. This is it.

* * *

It felt bizarre to have to knock on the door of a house she used to live in, but that was how she found herself.

Aquila smiled down at the old House-Elf who let her in and watched as she disappeared up the stairs to collect Halley. Busying herself by looking around the foyer, she noticed that nothing at all had changed since she had moved out nearly two years ago.

"Sorry. I didn't realise the time,"

Aquila whipped around, caught off-guard. Halley had said that her father would be at work.

"I've just come to-"

"I know, I know, I'll be out of your way in a minute. I left some papers in the living room."

"Right,"

"Mum." Halley appeared at the top of the stairs. "Dad, hi,"

"Do you have everything?" Aquila asked, ignoring the fact that her daughter wasn't actually carrying anything.

"Just a sec,"

"How's everything been?" Aquila asked when they were alone again. He hadn't moved to collect his papers at all. "She didn't cause too much trouble, did she?"

"Not at all," Draco replied. "We've had a nice time."

"Good. That's good. She misses you."

"I hope she's not the only one,"

The way he was looking at her, Aquila could barely breathe. No one else had ever had that effect on her, none of the boys she'd dated before him could ever stir feelings within her the way he could. Only Draco. She couldn't think of anything to say in response, but it didn't seem to matter, because he wasn't done.

"You know, when we were first together, it didn't really matter to me that I was never going to see my parents again. Not really. Because I had you and your family, your friends, they all accepted me a lot quicker than I ever would have expected them to. So much easier than I deserved even,"

"What are you trying to say, Draco?"

"If they hadn't, it wouldn't have mattered, because you loved me. And back in the beginning, when we were alone in that little apartment it felt like it was just us, you know?"

"I remember. Like we were the only two people in the world," she didn't know why she was indulging in this. She wanted to go and wait outside, but she couldn't tear herself away from him, his eyes, his voice.

"Exactly. The rest of the planet could have been burning down to the ground, and we would have been all that was left. When I'm with you, that's all I know. You and me and our stars,"

_When I'm with you,_ everything he'd said was past tense, but that, that was present tense. It wasn't a mistake either. She knew, he never made mistakes in his speech. He meant to say it that way.

"Ok. I'm ready," Halley landed in front of her parents, carrying her bags, while Winkle struggled with a broomstick.

"Wonderful. Lily's been asking about you, all the kids have. I think they might have missed you more than I have," Aquila tried to grin at the appalled look on her daughters face, but she was having trouble. _That's all I know_. "Only joking, now thank your father and I'll meet you outside."

"Thanks Dad. For everything,"

"You're welcome Sweetheart. I'll come and see you off to school next week, alright?"

"Great. See you then." They hugged each other tightly and then Halley left the hall, the Elf following behind.

"Thanks for… I know it meant a lot to her to be able to visit."

"She's welcome any time. You too. This is still your home and it always will be, I hope you know that."

_You and me and our stars._

"Thank you Draco. We should be going, I think. Ginny's invited us for dinner and I want to get Hal settled back in before then."

"I'll see you at Kings Cross then?"

"I'll be there." Aquila replied. She had every intention to leave, but for a moment she felt as if she were frozen to the spot. Had he silently jinxed her? She couldn't move, and in all honestly she wasn't sure if she wanted to.

Draco took a step forward, opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, Winkle reappeared at the front door.

"Miss Halley is ready to depart,"

"Thank you Winkle. I'll be off then," Aquila tore her eyes away from her husband and flew out the door.

* * *

September first once again brought London's magical community back to Kings Cross station and through to Platform Nine and Three Quarters.

Being there again, Aquila couldn't help but remember all the times she had journeyed to and from that station herself as a student at Hogwarts. Now her daughter was returning for her fifth year and everything was different.

The way she had imagined her life turning out when she was Halley's age wasn't the way that it happened. She'd had a family, there was happiness, but then everything fell to pieces.

The train was fading into the distance, Halley already inside with her friends, not hanging out the window waving like so many of the younger kids. As the shining red steam train disappeared, Aquila couldn't help but think of the last time her family had been together.

A week ago, in the Manor when Draco had told her that all he knew was the two of them and their stars. If she could make herself unhear that sentence, she knew she wouldn't. It was wonderful. He was wonderful.

And he was standing right beside her, not budging as all the other parents and siblings made their way home again.

"That's that, then," Ron announced when they were just about the last ones left, the Longbottoms disappearing with a wave. "We're free until December. Who wants to go and get absolutely smashed?"

"Ronald! Be serious!" Hermione scolded.

If Aquila were paying more attention, she would have noticed, that Hermione closely resembled Lily Potter as she stood there. Her hair and eyes were a different colour, but the look on her face as she'd watched her children board the train was very similar to the way Lily looked when her son and her best friend's daughter left each year.

"Fine, who wants to come back to our place for a nice cup of tea?" he rephrased, nodding to Niall Callaghan, a colleague from the Ministry and former Hufflepuff classmate of Aquila's.

"Yes please," replied Ginny. "But only if you lace it with Fire Whiskey."

"Ginny!"

"What? Our kids are all gone; I think we've earned this, don't you?"

"I'm in," Harry agreed. Hermione simply shook her head.

"Aquila?" and then more hesitantly a last invitation was offered, "Draco?"

The red-headed siblings and their spouses regarded the man and woman who barely spoke unless it concerned their daughter with concern.

"No. Thank you." Draco replied, graciously giving his wife the opportunity to go without him. These were her friends; he knew he'd always just been tolerated for her sake.

"I think I'll pass." Aquila agreed. "But I'll see you all for dinner next Thursday, won't I?"

"Of course." They all nodded. With one last look the Weasley's and Potter's Apparated away from the station, and left the last two people to stand alone on the platform.

"I've been such a fool" Aquila announced after they'd stood there for an eternity.

"What? No, of course you haven't."

"I wanted to come back as soon as I walked out the door, but I thought that I needed to take a stand, I needed to prove that I was serious. It just got so out of hand, and then I thought I could never come back."

Draco didn't speak he just waited to see if there was anything more that Aquila had to say.

"Can we go home now?" she finally asked.

"Always."

Joining hands they left the train station with a pop and returned to their home where once again, nothing existed besides the dragon and the eagle.


End file.
